


Keep the Wolves from My Door

by misura



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Getting Together, Other, Pet Sitting, past Eddie Brock/Anne Weying - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 01:46:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19241335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Eddie volunteers to pet sit Annie's cat in order to win her back. Venom helps. Kind of.





	Keep the Wolves from My Door

"This is going to suck," Eddie said, five seconds after Annie had gone, leaving behind - well.

**_"Nonsense,"_** said Venom. _**"It will be a good opportunity for you, Eddie. To show your worth and win her back."**_

"Who says I even want to win her back, huh? Did you think of that?"

Venom said nothing, showing off his teeth at Mr Belvedere instead.

"Anyway, it's a stupid plan. It's not going to work."

**_"Females like responsible males who remember to feed the cat, Eddie. Like Dan. You should have let me eat him. Then Annie would be ours again already."_ **

Mr Belvedere hissed and made a run for the curtains.

"Oh, well done you. Very well done. Now look what you've done, eh?"

 

Eddie had been provided with dry food, wet food, a feeding bowl, a water bowl and a list of instructions about ten pages long.

_"You know what, it'll be fine. I'm a grown man, I can handle it,"_ Eddie had said, and she'd given him this look, which had hurt, and then a hug, which had been nice, and then she'd sighed and left him to it: five days taking care of the other guy in her life.

She'd turned at the door to tell him, _"Feed the cat, Eddie. Don't forget. I'm trusting you,"_ and Eddie had known that what she really meant that she was giving him a chance to start making amends for the time when he maybe hadn't quite lived up to that trust, even if it had been for a good cause.

_**"Yes, Annie. Have a good trip, Annie. I'm going to miss you, Annie. I'll take very good care of your dog, Annie,"**_ Venom said. **_"Why didn't you say any of that? You're a loser, Eddie."_**

"Yeah, well, you're an alien parasite, so I guess that makes us even," Eddie said. He'd managed to save both Mr Belvedere and the curtains, though both looked perhaps a bit worse for wear. "Oh, and Mr Belvedere's a cat, not a dog."

**_"That's what I said. We should take him for walks and play fetch."_ **

"Great idea, buddy. I'll get right on that, shall I? Just let me wrap up this article real quick."

 

The thing was, writing articles wasn't the same as making a report with images and interviews and voice-overs and stuff, was the thing. Eddie wouldn't say he was bad at it; a bit rusty, maybe, sure. He'd grown out of that whole thing where he'd sit down and line up his facts and then put them down in a nice story, no video, no sound-bites, no nothing.

All of which meant that he lost track of time every once in a while. It happened, all right? He had a job, and that job came with deadlines, and to meet them, he couldn't afford to take a break for every little thing.

_**"Eddie."** _

"What's that, coffee? Don't mind if I do. Don't mind at all." Eddie blindly reached for a mug, inhaling the scent. "Thanks, pal."

_**"You are welcome, Eddie."** _

Eddie's lap suddenly had several pounds of cat on it. "Uh, buddy."

_**"If you pet it and feed it treats, you can teach it tricks, like sitting up and wagging its tail so that Annie will think it likes you."** _

"Yeah, that's dogs, not cats." Eddie knew better than to put his fingers anywhere within biting or scratching reach. He needed those fingers. "The two really are quite different."

**_"If you say so, Eddie."_ **

"I do." Eddie typed in a few more words. "I do indeed."

**_"Their reactions to me appear quite similar,"_** Venom said, setting out straightaway to prove his point and yes, there went the cat and the curtains again.

Eddie sighed. "You're really determined to screw this up for me, aren't you?"

**_"What? I am trying to help. You are being ungrateful. And you forgot your promise to Annie. You did not feed the cat. It is hungry."_ **

Eddie waited. He'd lost his train of thought anyway.

**_"I am hungry, too."_ **

"Fine, fine. Let's eat."

 

The network had hired some joker to do reports in the timeslot that used to be Eddie's, which Eddie felt compelled to hate-watch, just so he could feel better about himself and his far superior skills.

He'd microwaved some popcorn and settled down on the couch, and Venom did that thing where he was sort of like a second person, and the two of them would watch TV together like a couple of friends, just hanging out and chilling. It was nice. Kind of like things had been with Annie, before - well, before.

"Mr Belvedere." Eddie gestured.

Mr Belvedere stared at him in a way that suggested he was quite comfortable where he was, sitting on the low table right in front of the television, blocking Eddie's view.

_**"Eddie. It is a cat. It does not speak English,"**_ Venom said. _**"If you want it to obey you, you should make it fear and respect you. Although even then, I do not think it will learn how to speak English. You will have to learn to speak the language of cats."**_

Mr Belvedere stretched and started licking himself.

Eddie got up and said, "Shoo," while waving his arms a bit, and there, that did the trick. "Ha! See that? That's how you handle a cat."

_**"I see. I am most impressed,"**_ Venom said, as Eddie settled down to savor his victory.

"Don't mention it."

_**"Do you not think Annie will be impressed when you tell her you shouted at her cat after forgetting to feed it?"** _

"Shut up. I'm trying to watch this show, all right?"

 

Editor in expectation of an article duly soothed with fake promises of delivery of an article within the next two days, Eddie went back to focussing on the truly important things in his life.

"Why me?"

Mr Belvedere was eating breakfast. Venom had opted for tater tots and a few bars of chocolate, while Eddie had settled for some orange juice to get the taste of sugar out of his mouth.

**_"Because you are a loser, Eddie,"_** Venom said. _**"Females always know when men are losers. They make us do things for them, because they know we will not take advantage."**_

"That's all a bit cynical, innit?" Eddie asked. "Know what I think? I think it means she wants me back."

_**"No, she does not."** _

"Hey. What happened to us getting her back, eh?" Eddie had liked the sound of that, really he had. Not that he'd had any real expectations, as such, but well, Annie'd been his best girlfriend ever, so it only made sense that he'd want her back, didn't it? Just like it only made sense that when she asked him for a favor, he'd do it, no matter how inconvenient and unpleasant and uncomfortable.

_**"That was before I saw you with the cat,"**_ said Venom. _**"Now I know that it would never work. You should forget about getting back together with Annie, Eddie. It will never happen."**_

"Says you," Eddie said. The lack of confidence hurt, really it did. He'd expected better from Venom.

_**"Yes. I did."** _

"I heard you. Oh, I heard you loud and clear, buddy."

_**"I know. That is why I spoke at a normal volume. I did not whisper. You were meant to hear me. I was talking to you."** _

"I'm going to get Annie back," Eddie said. "Just you wait and see."

 

" _Engaged_?" Eddie asked. He'd known that Annie and Dan were - but that didn't mean -

**_"Tell her you are happy for her. Say 'congratulations, Annie, that is wonderful news'. Do it."_ **

"I mean," Eddie said, "that's a big step. Big step. Very big step. Step very big."

Annie beamed at him. There was a ring on her finger. It looked expensive. "It just felt like it was time, you know?"

"Sure!" Eddie said. "Yeah! That makes sense."

She hugged him - or would have, except that Mr Belvedere stepped in between them, meowing as if Eddie hadn't fed him for five days, the furry ingrate.

Eddie tried not to glare at him as Mr Belvedere stole his hug and went back into the carrier.

"I fed him, you know," he said. "I didn't forget."

Annie smiled at him. It was a nice smile, a friendly smile. What it wasn't, was the kind of smile she'd given him when it'd been two or three in the morning, and he'd sort of wanted to get an early start on an investigation, only it wasn't as if he had to leave right this moment, was it, not with his bed all nice and warm and full of Annie.

"I know, Eddie. Thank you."

And like that, she was gone again, cat and all.

Eddie decided he wasn't going to miss either of them, not even for a moment.

 

"I'm telling you, this guy is the worst. The worst," Eddie repeated, glowering at the TV screen.

_**"Yes. We should find him and eat him. Then you will get your old job back again."** _

"Appreciate the thought, pal, really, I do. But no can do."

_**"You said it was all right to eat very bad people. If he is the worst, that means it is all right to eat him."**_ Venom considered. _**"We can tell him we will let him interview me."**_

"No. End of discussion, all right?" Eddie liked Venom's attitude, and he supposed that if something did happen to his replacement, and if he played his cards right, Richard might take him back. Maybe. He'd probably need to do some heavy-duty groveling.

_**"No groveling. There are other jobs,"**_ Venom said.

"Fine. We'll find something together, how's that? And you can help me find a new girlfriend while you're at it. I mean, let's be fair here, you kind of owe me one."

_**"Eddie. I like you."** _

"Like you too, buddy," Eddie said, patting ... some part of Venom's body or another.

**_"I do not want to find you a girlfriend."_ **

"That's all right. I was just joking."

**_"Good. You and me - we do not need girlfriends, Eddie. We have each other."_ **

"Uh," Eddie said. He hadn't really thought of it that way before. It made sense, he supposed, from a certain, screwed-up point of view, and he and Venom did live together. They slept together, they showered together, they ate very bad people together.

They were practically married already, which meant they'd beaten Annie and Dan by several months.

"Uh," he said again. Venom wasn't exactly anyone's idea of sexy, but now that Eddie considered it - well, it would be ... different, probably. But different didn't necessarily mean bad, and if Venom was interested, and Eddie was interested, there was no reason to assume they wouldn't be able to make it work. Whatever 'it' was.

**_"Love, Eddie. It is love,"_** Venom said, grinning at him with all his long, sharp teeth.

"Well, it sure is something, I'll tell you that much," Eddie said, and swallowed, and then he decided that to hell with it all, he was doing this, and he was doing this right now.


End file.
